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The motherboard has been replaced and it has now regained its power, but some of the keys are not working. It could be solved with a bit of cleaning but if the keyboard needs replacing it might mean another wait.

Last season we had a good run in Europe, so this year we were hoping to build on that. The constant turnover of players (as no one will sign a new contract) and the lack of investment into the youth facilities continues so all we can do is just keep going for the time being.

It was the usual story as we lost the one game. Linfield slipped up, but this could have been due to their European campaign. They somehow managed to knock out Shakhtar in the Champions League before losing badly to Roma. Still, this put them in the Europa League group stage where they managed to get one win.

Mid-Ulster Cup - easy enough as usual, I just wish I had some youth players I could play in this competition.

Setanta Cup - another easy win, although Shamrock Rovers nearly knocked us out in the quarter final.

UEFA Champions League - the qualifiers were easy enough, but we had a repeat of last season in the group stage. We really were the third seed in the group, battering the team below us and losing every match to the two above us.

UEFA Europa League - we had a stunning run with notable victories over Bayern Munich and Man City. The final was strangely held at our ground, but it did not go our way. Such a shame really as that was a great opportunity to gain some vital coefficient points.

Squad - we have quite a big squad now as we really need it with the fixture congestion, at one point we played five games in seven days! As usual, we have some contracts expiring soon which means another big clear-out. Top players such as Ivkovic, Wilton, Patrick and Merkel will all probably leave in the summer to make sure we cash in while we can.

Transfers - we are starting to spend a bit more now, although Milojkovic was a hige waste of money.

UEFA Europa League - we had a stunning run with notable victories over Bayern Munich and Man City. The final was strangely held at our ground, but it did not go our way. Such a shame really as that was a great opportunity to gain some vital coefficient points.

I have seen that happen before. I was playing a Europa League Final against Liverpool. The build up and all the news stated it was at Anfield, the in game screen showed it was at Anfield, my fixtures said Neutral and the past winners showed a different stadium to Anfield. Dont know if thats what it showed fully for you!!!

I have seen that happen before. I was playing a Europa League Final against Liverpool. The build up and all the news stated it was at Anfield, the in game screen showed it was at Anfield, my fixtures said Neutral and the past winners showed a different stadium to Anfield. Dont know if thats what it showed fully for you!!!

It shows as home on my fixture list and away on Sevilla's, but on the Europa League pages it is showing as a stadium in Turkey.

Probably the first time a European final has been attended by just 3500 people

Making the most out of the second CL spot, Glentoran managed something we didn't by getting a result against Sevilla. Just a shame they lost the away leg 2-1. Still, this puts them in the EL group stage so it looks like the other clubs are finally doing something in Europe.

Making the most out of the second CL spot, Glentoran managed something we didn't by getting a result against Sevilla. Just a shame they lost the away leg 2-1. Still, this puts them in the EL group stage so it looks like the other clubs are finally doing something in Europe.

Great to see your laptop back up and running!
Are the other clubs making it any tougher in the league now then? Or is the european success distracting them domestically!

Not quite as dominant as last season, but we did manage to avoid the usual single defeat.

Intermediate Cup - I finally remembered to drop a few squad players into the reserves to make a run in this cup. I don't think I'll do it again as I had fitness issues towards the end of the season and I really could have done with my squad players being fully fit.

UEFA Champions League - the qualifiers were easy enough, but it was the same old story in the group stage. It was an improvement as we managed to take points off the top seeds, but we could only manage a 1-1 draw with Sevilla when we needed a big win to get through.

UEFA Europa League - AEK gave us a scare, but we recovered and put together a couple of good wins, including this dramatic result against Schalke. The run ended in the semi finals, where Man City outclassed us.

Squad - the squad is a decent size, but we suffered with injuries and fitness problems once the fixtures started piling up.

Transfers - this was probably the biggest clear-out I've had at the club. Players were sold to avoid losing them for nothing, but I continued and sold a few players in January. I've brought in a few younger players in the hope of being able to submit a better size squad in Europe.

Key Player Profiles:

Alexandru Vlad - he was signed as we were short of strikers and instantly hit form

To have the season we did with the changes to the squad was superb, hopefully we can build on this next year and make progress in Europe. The stadium is getting bigger (approaching 5000) but there are still no signs of a youth setup.

This is an awesome story, absolutely loving it. Spent an age reading your old FM11 and FM10 stories too! Could you post up your finances please?

Finances - I've got more money than I could possibly spend, but the board are still reluctant to build a new stadium or improve the youth setup. We really need the club to step up a level so I can make better use of the money and stop making these huge profits.

Hi Dafuge - excellent read as ever. I'm trying to build a lower league Belgium team up and have got so far and then stalled. I think, like many, that the new patch stunted the success of the tactic and I'm trying to work out what best to do.

Can I ask what formation you're playing with (sorry if I've missed it in the thread) - is it similar to your old T&M one? How do you keep your team motivated with team talks? You've built this team up really well - pity your owner won't invest to help you with your facilities. I'm interested in seeing how people take on lower league teams and develop them.

Setanta Cup - we left it fairly late to complete the clean sweep of the domestic cups.

UEFA Champions League - the qualifiers were easy as usual but we conquered the group stage as second seeds. A superb win against Bayern was followed by a 2-1 home win over Chelsea. We led the second leg 3-2 at half time, then fell to bits completely. Still, quarter finals equals our best run in Europe.

Squad - I kept a large squad and kept them fit, which really made a difference.

Transfers - no huge moves, but there were a few decent youngsters brought in.

Key Player Profiles:

Alexandru Vlad - last year's top scorer had a quiet year as the strikers were rotated.

The stadium nearly holds 7000 now, which is promising, but ideally I'm after a new ground and some youth facilities. There's a number of contracts expiring next year so there will be yet another overhaul as my players all refuse to extend their contracts.

UEFA Champions League - the qualifiers were easy as usual, which put us in a group which we managed to top. This superb result was followed by two great victories over Spanish opposition but Man City thrashed us to end our run. Making the semi finals is our best result ever and it looks like we could be capable of repeating this.

Squad - with no contracts due to expire I can look forward to using the same squad again next season.

Transfers - there was a big clearout as a lot of contracts were running out, but the players that have come in have been quality.

This was another great season, so I'm hoping the board will expand the stadium again (currently holds 10498). I'm looking forward to the announcements of the reputations, there could be some good news for us.

It's very strange (or sad) that other clubs are not following your success even remotely. How are their finances? Are there any interesting transfers going on besides your club? NI Premier league now has really good reputation, it should not be an obstacle anymore.

This was the only improvement possible on last season, we absolutely smashed the league. More interestingly though, Linfield seemed reinvigorated under new manager Jonny Evans, making the Europa League group stage and managing three draws from the six games.

Mid-Ulster Cup - even with fielding my weakest team I won this with ease.

Quarter final - after a 2-0 home win, we sealed the win in this fiery match.

Semi final - after a 1-0 away loss the game was in the balance, but a dramatic winner sealed the win seconds before it went to penalties.

Final - things looked bleak after the early goal, but the sending off gave us hope. Minutes before defeat, our star striker popped up to send it to extra time where he grabbed the winner before missing a penalty that turned out to be irrelevant.

Squad - I've managed to keep a great squad together for a while, but the contract situation means I will have to sell a number of key players.

Transfers - there wasn't much action, but the big news was that I managed to get work permits for a couple of signings.

This season is almost impossible to repeat, so the only improvements I can hope for are off the field. Over the next two or three years there are a number of key contracts expiring, so the squad will need to be rebuilt yet again. With the new ability to gain a work permit once in a blue moon, there is hope that I can can rebuild this squad, but only time will tell.

Nicely done mate. That will give Linfield yourr automatic spot next year right? So 2 teams in the ECC. If they cant boost the coefficient a bit Northern Ireland might become a more attractive propositon to move/stay.

Nicely done mate. That will give Linfield yourr automatic spot next year right? So 2 teams in the ECC. If they cant boost the coefficient a bit Northern Ireland might become a more attractive propositon to move/stay.

I hadn't even thought of that, provided the CL spots are correct this year that could be huge.

Now that you have won Champions League, maybe you could buy some fringe players from other NI clubs for couple of millions, to help them progress? In a way they would become your feeder clubs. Unless you consider that cheating.

Something like this bugs me abit, you have a stadium of around 13,000 and probably sell out every European match but in the Final of the CL you and Madrid sell out 90,000.

I assume every final is a sell out on FM but I'm not to sure you'd get around 40,000 Bournview fans going to the CL final.

Based on last year's final at Wembley, the two clubs get an allocation of 25000 tickets. I think we could sell that considering we are selling out our 16000 capacity stadium for CL and bigger league games.